2023-10-15 08:50:00
Forty-year-old Park Sang-hyun defeated PGA Tour star Im Seong-jae (25) to win the title and surpassed 5 billion won in total prize money on the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour.
Sang-hyun Park (center) is receiving congratulations from Seong-jae Lim (left) and Yong-jun Bae (right), who played in the same champion group, following successfully making a chip-in birdie on the first hole in the fourth round of the KPGA Korean Tour Genesis Championship held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon on the 15th. ./KPGA
Sang-Hyun Park started the 4th round of the Genesis Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won) held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (par 72, 7,467 yards) in Incheon on the 15th in 3rd place, 3 strokes behind Seongjae Lim, the sole leader. He scored a chip-in birdie by putting a chip shot into the hole at a distance of 13.86 yards from the 1st hole (par 4, 428 yards) to the hole. From this point on, Park Sang-hyun, Lim Seong-jae, and Bae Yong-jun (23), who were part of the champion group, played a spectacular match with ups and downs.
Park Sang-hyun, who had only 5 birdies in the first 9 holes, had only 2 birdies and 3 bogeys in the second half. Entering the 18th hole (par 5, 545 yards), Seongjae Lim was in the sole lead, and Sanghyun Park and Yongjun Bae were chasing by one stroke. While Park Sang-hyun and Bae Yong-jun both made birdies in this hole, Im Seong-jae only made par. The three players, who tied with a final total of 17 under par and 271 strokes, entered overtime.
Seongjae Lim was eliminated first following scoring par in the first playoff hole held on the 18th hole. In the second playoff hole held at the same hole, Park Sang-hyun’s tee shot rolled for a long time, and he hit the green with his second shot and succeeded in two-on. Park Sang-hyun, who made an eagle putt, defeated Bae Yong-jun, who only made par, and won his 12th tour title. After winning the season opener in April of last year, he added the win 1 year and 6 months later.
Sang-Hyun Park is greeting following making a birdie putt in the 3rd hole of the 4th round of the KPGA Korean Tour Genesis Championship held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon on the 15th./KPGA
Before this game, Park Sang-hyun said, “If I win, I will set a record of exceeding 5 billion won in domestic prize money,” and “My unconditional goal is to win.” He said, “With my current condition, I am confident that I can compete with any player,” and “I have the experience. He also said, “I will defeat them all.” Park Sang-hyun, who added 300 million won in prize money, achieved his goal by accumulating a total prize money of 5.04086 billion won and ranking first in this category. He is significantly ahead of second place Kang Gyeong-nam (40), who is recording 4.29612 billion won.
Park Sang-hyun, a veteran of the Korean Tour, ranks first in average strokes (70.07 strokes) and first in average number of birdies (4.32), leveraging his strength in putts (average number of putts: 1.73, 3rd on tour). The average drive shot distance is 284.72 yards, ranking 90th, but the accuracy is high with a fairway landing rate of 62.14% (19th). He debuted on the Korean Tour in 2005 and has consistently maintained his top-level skills. In the Japanese tour, he also won one win in 2016 and 2019.
In his victory interview, Park Sang-hyun said, “Professor Lim Seong-jae missed a birdie at the end, so I was lucky enough to go into overtime, so I think I won like this. I had a lot of overtime experience, so I tried to enjoy it to the fullest.” “Professor Lim Seong-jae played so well that I thought I had no chance of winning if I didn’t run early, so I hit aggressively,” he said. “I persevered until the end and got good results.”
Park Sang-hyun has been sponsored by Dong-A Pharmaceutical since 2015 and plays with the ‘Bacchus’ logo on his hat. He also has nicknames such as ‘Uncle Bacchus’ and ‘Brother Cass’. In his winning interview, he shed tears as he expressed his gratitude to Kang Shin-ho, honorary chairman of Dong-A Socio Holdings, who passed away on the 3rd. “The president loves golf so much that he was always happy to see me win… . Chairman, thank you so much,” he said, taking off his hat and bowing.
1697376909
#40yearold #Park #Sanghyun #defeats #PGA #Lim #Seongjae…Total #prize #money #exceeds #billion #won
